Toronto Pro SuperShow 2011

Buff bodies, tanned faces - and that was just the visitors attending the Toronto Pro SuperShow 2011 which is underway at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (Fri June 17 to Sat June 18). The show is being held in two large halls - one with the venders and main Expo stage in Exhibit Hall 'B' and a Combatitive area (boxing and the martial arts) in Exhibit Hall 'A'. Being right downtown there is also plenty of public transit options and available parking. I will eat a bit more spinach before I hit next year's SuperShow! The entrance fee to the large Hall 'A' Expo was a very reasonable $10 and you could catch many of the muscle and fitness competitions.

Fitness equipment and apparel along with nutrition were the key exhibitors in the hall and I had to admire some of the names: One Hot Tamale Activewear, Ripped Freak and Food Scrooge. There was even a plastic surgery exhibitor at the Expo. The crowds of visitors were enjoying the shows and vendors and the start of the Toronto Pro SuperShow can only grow as fitness and nutrition continue to be so important to everyone. I even thought I saw Ice Tea and Coco (in a brunette wig and camouflage skirt) wandering the aisles but they wouldn't let me take their picture so I can't prove it.

The Fitness Expo will continue tomorrow, Saturday, June 18th. They say "get ready, Toronto, for two days of heart-pumping, hard-core sprots adrenaline! The largest collection of extreme sports ever held in Canada is here!" Celebrity bodybuilders were signing autographs and posing with appreciative fans.

Canada's Largest Fitness Expo had plenty of exhibitors and events going on in the Expo Hall and featured bodybuilding, strongman, weightlifting, powerlifting, arm wrestling, boxing, kickboxing, judo, Wushu and fitness, figure and bikini competitions. Here are  my photos from the Women's bodybuilding, more bodybuilding, Bikini and Fitness, Oxygen Magazine Model Search and the MuscleMag Model Search competitions.

Some technique discussion and practice in preparation for the Canadian Armwrestling Federation (CAWF) Pro and Amateur North American Armwrestling Championships was going on above. I was scared to hear of the 'Destroyer Grip Challenge' on Friday but I don't think anyone lost their hands so it was probably pretty cool. 

My god those strongman guys were big and strong and they put on a great show.

The ladies had initial judging for IFBB events: Pro Women's Bodybuilding, Fitness, Figure Open, Figure Masters and Bikini.  There was also preliminaries for the Oxygen Fitness Model Search and a MuscleMag Bikini Search. You can watch the finals tomorrow - so drop by and check out the competitions and the 140,000 square feet of Expo and Extreme Sports.

There are lots more pictures after the jump.

2011 Luminato at Metro Hall

There are quite a few outdoor stages set up right now around downtown Toronto. June is festival central with NXNE, MMVAs and also Luminato's Festival Stage at Metro Hall's David Pecaut Square. kd Lang is there tomorrow June 17, 2011 from 8pm to 11pm. See more of my photos of kd lang's concert here.

Luminato sponsor Kia had a two story set of cars in the Square. The two white Souls were there for people to express your soul - you could take markers and draw on the car and afterwards you could enter a contest and get a free water bottle.

See more Kia Express Your Soul after the jump.

Much Music Video Awards 2011 - stage setup

The incredible series of stages that have taken over the outside of the Queen Street West home of Much Music/CTV and spills out onto the adjacent streets continues to take shape. The Bieber's girlfriend - Selena Gomez will co-host the Much Music Video Award Show (MMVAs) and superstar Lady Gaga will be performing at the show. Bruno Mars and Avril Lavigne will also be singing during the Sunday, June 19, 2011 show. I would like to get seats in the SUV news truck sticking out of the side of the building.

There was a reporter from fuse (music lives) doing a spot in front of the stage construction.

See more photos after the jump.

CIBC celebrates diversity

CIBC celebrated diversity in Trinity Square behind the Toronto Eaton Centre on June 16, 2011 and they had a number of performers dancing in the style of their rich cultures. The bank was celebrating the diversity of their employees, clients and communities.

NXNE Rocks the Square

The zombie rabbit, or more likely the drunken rabbit, celebrates another year of the Toronto NXNE Music Festival and there are days of fun scheduled in Yonge-Dundas Square. The sponsors and stage are being setup right now and there is even a beer garden at the Square. I thought I saw a relatively sober rabbit there, without crosses for eyes but if you see him later he will probably be tanked and the eyes will be crossed then.

Monster Energy Drinks is on site and for a very small donation you can pick up a drink or a water bottle. 9KG presents the Party Naked Contest (go to facebook and enter to win www.facebook.com/NICEPKG) and I got a picture with a deer guy and a rep for the company. Are you ready to go faster? I can’t hear you! Sorry, that’s for the CNE. Are you ready to rock Toronto?

From the NXNE website (http://www.nxne.com/) “Here’s the full info on our four night run of shows at Yonge Dundas Square, starting tomorrow June 16th until Sunday 19th. We’ve a mix of legendary acts, current favourites and rising stars and, as befitting a free all ages event, there should be something for everybody.

We’re proud to call hardcore’s most influential Descendents, indie royalty Stars, iconic new wavers DEVO and legendary rap group Pharcyde our headliners for the four nights. Supporting them will be Fucked Up, Cults, OFF!, Dirty Beaches, Men Without Hats and Diamond Rings. If that isn’t quite enough we’ve Toronto youngsters the Burning Boyz; Richard Duguay of Personality Crisis; Nightbox; Cobourg, Ontario’s Gentlemen Husbands; festival faves DD/MM/YYYY; Montreal’s Land of Talk; soul-diva Mamabolo; Reema Major; R&B sensations Tanika Charles & The Wonderfuls and prolific Canadian rapper D-Sisive to help the party get started from the early afternoon. We’re even closing a section of Yonge Street, part of the longest road in the world, to make more room for the party on Saturday.”

See more pictures after the jump.

Swans on the beach

There are a crapload of birds that live along the waterfront - the majority are probably seagulls, followed by ducks and geese. They eat and crap, crap and eat, then have babies - which are incredibly cute, who then crap and eat and have more babies. The big boys of the winged variety in Toronto seem to be the large white swans. The mute swans above are heading towards the CN Tower - I think they have heard of EdgeWalk but they will be disappointed when they find out that the high walk doesn't open until August 1 and the price of admission is $175. There is also a good chance they will be scared of heights.

Bollywood covered wagon bicycle

Bollywood settlers crossed the plains and started a new life, often on covered wagon bicycles, when they would spontaneously break out in song and dance.

Blue eyed husky and other dogs

And maybe this guy is a malamute. Woof.

More Woofstock doggies.

A two headed push pull

doggie boots

Silos by the lake

The large agricultural farms of downtown Toronto grow tons and tons of wholesome wheat and that wheat has to be stored somewhere before it is made into Tims bagels and donuts. And I think that the silos that remain along the shores of Lake Ontario is where all the Toronto wheat goes. Sometimes it is difficult to see the farms but I believe that to save precious land for relatively unimportant roadways, the farms are placed on many of the downtown buildings. I often see trees along the edge of the roofline to help the farmer from driving their combine over the edge of the building. I will have to try the CN Tower EdgeWalk to see if I can see the farms and prove my hypothesis.

My initial theory about the silos was that they held nuclear weapons, but in 1983 Toronto became a nuclear weapons-free zone.

25 day countdown till Honda Indy Toronto 2011

Wednesday June 15 begins the 25 day countdown to the Honda Indy Toronto 2011 and the party begins on Bloor Street.

Photo by Honda Indy Toronto - Fabian Garzon

Canadian IndyCar driver Alex Tagliani (see photo above) will join with a number of drivers from the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, Canadian Touring Car and the Ferrari Challenge for an IndyCar themed party which will have a cake from CakeStar in the shape of the Toronto street race track and an IndyCar parked on a William Ashley display of bone china teacups.

GIF animations generator gifup.com

The event takes place in front of William Ashley (Manulife Centre) at 55 Bloor Street West at 11am.

Things to do in Toronto June 18-19, 2011

Well another weekend approaches. If the weather is good it's time to hit the patios, meet some friends - maybe Monica and Chandler - but try to avoid the annoying Janice, and enjoy the spoils of the weekday grind. In Toronto the summer means exciting and fun things to see and do in the big smoke. You can even dance in Bellevue Square Park in a pink bustier. Beverages feature in many of the activities so arrive thirsty honey. Heck, there is so much going on that they can't even squeeze it all into the weekend, so check this stuff out along the way.

Monday June 13 to Sunday June 19: North by Northeast Music Festival NXNE which features 650 bands, 40 films and panels. Toronto loves a good soundtrack to life - fill your ipod with some of the music you discover in this creative festival. There will be a number of NXNE events in Yonge-Dundas Square starting on Thursday.

Friday June 10 to Sunday June 19: Luminato Festival. Explore Toronto, explore culture see the city 'illuminated with arts and creativity'. Don't forget the weekend's Taste of Toronto event.

Thursday June 16 to Saturday June 18: Toronto Wine & Spirit Festival at Polson Pier.

Friday June 17 and Saturday June 18: The Toronto Pro Supershow at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The Fitness Expo in Hall B only costs $10 and includes strongman, bodybuilding, weightlifting, powerlifting, armwrestling and a fitness and bikini model search. If you want to spend more there is the IFBB mens and ladies Qualifiers (buy tickets online to save a few bucks) as well as the Combatative Sports Area. See my photos of the Friday preliminaries here.

Friday June 17 to Sunday June 19: Northern Ink Xposure Tattoo Show at the Downtown Toronto Hilton. Hundreds of tattoo artists are expected to be on hand and they say 'get tattooed by the best in the world'. Tattoo's are so big nowadays that almost everyone has one. I think it's because grandmothers are against body ink and in rebellion the grandkids want one by the time they turn 12. I want to get some good tat shots.


Friday June 17 to Sunday June 19: Beach BBQ and Brews Festival at Woodbine Beach. Includes live entertainment.

Saturday June 18: Bells on Bloor - meet at noon at the Bloor Street entrance to High Park then travel to Queen's Park to raise awareness for bike lanes on Bloor.

Saturday June 18: Strawberry Festival at the St Lawrence Market. It's always a treat to go to the historic market and if you are lucky there will be some cute little puppies left over from Woofstock.

Sunday June 19: Clay and Paper Day of Delight at Dufferin Grove Park, a celebration of love, courtship and desire - sounds like a cool event 

The 2011 Much Music Video Awards (MMVA) are on Sunday, June 19 down at the Much Music Building on Queen Street West. Selena Gomez will co-host and performers include Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars and Avril Lavigne.

fuse reporter and the MMVA stage construction

And don't forget next weekend.

Saturday, June 25: Toronto Roller Derby TORD (http://www.torontorollerderby.com/) has the Battle for the Boot - the championship game of rockem, sockem action in a bout between the Chicks Ahoy and the Gore-Gore Rollergirls in their fight for flat track supremacy. 

Stop war

It is amazing how handy stop signs are for making social statements. We have seen one that was modified to say stop eating animals and now I have seen one for stop war.

Taste the rainbow

There was some rainbow coloured candy being given out in the heart of the Eaton Centre and at first I thought Justin Bieber was drawing on an imported sidewalk but there wasn't enough young fans screaming! Instead it was the 'world renowned pavement chalk artist' Julian Beever. They brought in a big load of patio stones, set up the booth giving out the candy and elastic wrist bands, and Julian was chalking up a storm.